Rating: PG-13, for sexual content, violence, language and some drug material.
Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara star in this screechy, mismatched-buddy road-trip comedy. Witherspoon plays a fast-talking, by-the-book police officer who’s eager to prove herself after an embarrassing Taser mishap. (Police brutality may not be the best source of laughs these days.) Vergara plays the sassy, blingy wife of a high-ranking drug cartel member whom Witherspoon’s character must escort to Dallas to testify before entering witness protection. When they’re confused for dangerous criminals, madcap hilarity (and misogynistic humor) ensue. There’s a bit involving a car crash which sends a cloud of cocaine floating into the sky — and into Witherspoon’s system, which makes her even more manic. Lots of gunshots are fired — some resulting in death — but since this is a PG-13 movie, we don’t see much carnage. There’s some language. And at one point, Vergara and Witherspoon pretend to be lesbian lovers, making out with each other to distract a suspicious farmer. This movie is probably suitable for tweens and older, but it’s terrible for everybody regardless of age.
Rating: PG-13, for disturbing thematic material including violence, a suggestive moment, and brief strong language.
Director Ava DuVernay’s Oscar-winning film, which follows Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as he led the fight for equal voting rights in the segregated South in 1965, is brutal to watch but essential. It’s beautifully made and powerfully acted — led by David Oyelowo’s charismatic and convincing turn as King — and it provides a useful lesson about the civil rights movement. But the cruelty and closed-mindedness it shows will be way too disturbing for most young viewers. DuVernay vividly depicts the violent, bloody backlash King and his fellow peaceful protesters endured, especially during their first attempt to march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. This is probably suitable for older tweens and up, but eventually, it’s a must-see movie for all young people.
